Cooling apparatus



June 23, 1936- G. c. covl-:RsToN 2,045,215

COOLING APPARATUS Filed July l0, 1935 @Ich 00 *d .d LAON" SQ m mgm@ 2l ll@f90/y@ 6.' @Ve/157%,

nZz i Patented June A23, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE'.d

This invention relates to cooling apparatus and methods andespecially tosuch methods as employ water or an equivalent iluid as the coolingmedium and is a continuationin part of my copending application, SerialNo. 21,652, illed May .15, 1935. It has for itsobjects to increase thecomparative difference between the wet point and the dry pointtemperatures of the refrigerant as well as to increase the generallefficiency of such a system.

I attain my objects by causing relatively dry air to circulate into andout of thermic relation with the cooling medium, and taking off the dryair from the bottom of the system and carrying it to the top and causingit to be re-exposed to fractional cooling so as to produce a cumulativeor additive effect, which may be repeated as often as desired, alsofeeding coldestair produced to an evaporating chamber, since cooling isrelative, and lower temperatures are now obtained.

Another object of my invention is to materially reduce the dew point ofthe air as it is fed upwardly through the cooling apparatus wherebygreater cooling of the air is made possible.

While I shall show, `describe and claim herein the use of dry air andwater as the refrigerant and the cooling medium respectively, I wish itunderstood that I may substitute other cooling mediums, otherrefrigerants and other/forms of mechanical devices without departingfrom the invention. Primarily, however, I employ. the elementsdescribed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of an apparatus such as may be usedin my system.

Figure 2 is `a part lsectional view of another form of apparatuscomprising a series of units and the arrangement of a dehydrator inconnection therewith.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of a dehydrator such as may be used.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of a cooling unit mounted in thesystem.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, Figure 1 is in the form of asingle unit for cooling and feeding dry air into a space toxbe cooledand then returning a fraction of the dry air back for recirculation andto further cool the same. It consists of casing I with solid side walls2 and 3 and aligned openings 2a formed in top wall 6 and bottom wall 1.Within the casing 'I is a water chamber 4 formed from a perforated plate5 and l the topwall'li and uppermost portion of each side wall of casingI.

hastened to side Wall 2 are baiiles III and II comms. (c1. sz-139) lwith openings formed therein to permit tubes s to extend therethrough.The bailies IIIA and'II extend to a point short of the opposite sidewall 3 from which a third baille plate I2extends to a, point short ofwall 2 so as to provide a zigzag course, as shown in Flgure 1, for theair which is directed upwardly through a dehydrator 32 or suitablecooling -unit 34 to stack or flue 20.

In the cup-like member 2l is mounted a dehydrator 32 or a cooling unit3l. 'Ihe dehydrator comprises a shell or casing having side and endvwalls of solid material and its top or bottom of wire gauze orperforated metal to permit the upwardly fed air to feed therethrough fordehydration. This shell is iilled with sodium chloride or anydehydrating substance. The dehydrator is mounted by means of rivets33driven through the casing unit and dehydrator shell so as to form atight t within the upper side portion of the cuplike member 2|, as shownin Figure 3 in detail.

The cooling unit 34 may be used in place of the dehydrator 32. Thecooling unit 34 is mounted by any suitable means, as solder, and may beconstructed as shown in Figure 4. It comprises tubes 36 with connections31 and 38 leading from some -refrigerating device, not shown, for thepurpose of circulating cooling fluid through the tubes 36. The air isfed through the mechanical cooling unit in the same manner as thedehydrator above described. The dehydrator 32 and the mechanical coolingunit 3|l are described :for the purpose of illustration only, as anysuitable means to reduce .the dew point of the air may be used toaccomplish my results.`

'I 'he dry air initially f eddownwardly through the tubes 8 emerges fromthe tubes below the bottom plate or wall 'I at which point a fraction ofthe air will go intothe space or room to be cooled and another fractionthereof will be turned upwardly by cup-like members 2l formed orattached to the plate 1, through dehydrator 32 or any suitable coolingunit as 34 and hence around the baffles I Il, I I and I2 and ejectedthrough stack 20. 'I'hese cup members are placed :lust below the lowerend of a small number of the tubes 8 so as to supply the evaporatingchamber with only a fraction of the downwardly fed dry air. I Extendingfrom opening 2a formed in top plate 46 are tubes or conduits 8. Thetubes 8 extend downwardly through the water chamber I, through openingsin plate 5, through-.bellies III, I I and I2 and extend through thebottom wall plate 1. The dry air fed throughthese tubes is cooled bycontact -with the inside walls of the tubes 8 and iins 22 and 23 whichextend longitudinally of each tube so as to divide it into foursections. The tubes 8 which may properly be called air cooling tubes aresurrounded by a porous material 8 below the water chamber 4. The aircirculating around the porous material 9 causes rapid evaporation ofmoisture from the material and becomes partially saturated, therebycooling the tubes 8 by evaporation. For the proper feeding of water fromchamber 4, the openings formed in plate 5 are larger in diameter thanthe tubes 8, but only a small fraction of an inch larger so that thewater feed to chamber 4 will only seep through the openings around thetubes 8 sufclently to merely moisten the porous covering 9 fastenedaround the tubes. To regulate the water level of tank or chamber 4 afloat valve I8 is connected to water pipe I9.

The foregoing form as described involves the same principle of operationas the form shown and described in Figure l. The latter differs only inthat the tubes 8 are elongated so as to project through 3 sections orunits A, B and C instead of ,one unit as shown in Figure 1. The objectbeing to dehydrate and reduce the temperature of the dry air with eachsection, thereby making the air of the second section colder than therst section and so on. The colder dry air having a greater density thanthe warmer air as rst introduced into the tubes of section A will feeddownward until it reaches the third and last section C. At this pointthe air will naturally be coldest and a fraction of dry air is thenturned and fed upwardly into air duct through a dehydrator 32 or acooling unit 34 mounted before the inlet of the rst evaporating chamberinto sections A. B, and C, and around the bailies Illa, IIa, and I2b. Ifdesired, a dehydrator may be placed before the inlet of each section. Aform of dehydrator which may be used is shown in Figure 3 as previouslydescribed. The dehydrator when used in connection with Figure 5 ismounted by any suitable means such as by rivets driven through the wallof duct 25 and into the shell of the dehydrator before the inlet of theevaporator section so as to form a tight t withinlthe duct. Or if thecooling unit 34 is used it may be soldered tightly within the duct. Thedry air fed upwardly through duct 25 will fraction off intoapproximately three parts. One third entering section B at port 21 asindicated by the arrows and around the baflles to vent duct 30. Anotherone-third enters a port 28 and through section C to the vent duct 38 andthe nal fraction enters at port 29 and is fed through the section A tovent duct 38. The duct 38 serves as a common exit for the air from allthree sections and may be provided with a suction fan 3| to speed theflow of air through the evaporation cham-` bers A, B and C to increaseevaporation and is vented outside of the space to be cooled. The air asit is fed and drawn upwardly through each of the three sections willcause very rapid evaporation of the moisture in the porous material 9around the tubes 8, especially rapid because it is dry or dehydratedair. The temperature of the air fed through my apparatus is reduced ateach recirculation and hence I am enabled to produce air of acoldertemperature at the end of each circulation. Inasmuch as thedifference between a wet and a dry bulb is relative, the lower thetemperature of the dry air used in the evaporating process, the lowerwill be the final temperature. Furthermore, the dew point of the airfed.

through my apparatus is reduced; It is well established in a law ofphysics that, for example, if the dew point is 40 F. the temperaturewill not fall much below the dew point. Therefore the efficiency isincreased by reducing the dew point, enabling a. colder temperature tobe obtained.

To summarize the operation of the unit shown in Figure 1, dry air is fedby fan I5 through tubes 8. The dry air so fed now emerges from the tubesbelow the plate 1 of casing I and a fraction of the said air is turnedby cup member or members 2I and fed upwardly thrugh the dehydrator 32 orcooling unit 34 to the evaporation chamber I around tubes 8 and theirmoist coveringsvS and around the baliles I0, II and I2 in a zig-zagcourse. The air thus fed causes evaporation of the moisture in material9 and becomes saturated to a degree, thereby cooling the dry air feedingthrough the tubes indirectly. The evaporation cools the tubewalls andfins 22 and 23 inside the tubes, with which the dry air contacts. Themajor portion of the dry air discharges into the lower part of the spaceto be cooled and by gravity or the aid of fan I5 is returned forrecirculation. The minor portion of the dry air enters the evaporatingchambers and is ejected from the space to be cooled, being replaced byair seeping into or being admitted by a duct for that purpose.

The modified form of Figure 1 operates in the .same way and only diiersin that it has an additional air duct 25 mounted on the opposite sidefrom the vent duct or stack 30. This is done to provide for dividing theair into thirds to equal the number of sections used and to limit theproportional amount of air fed to each evaporating section. If vesections were used instead of three as shown in the drawing, the vent 25would have ve ports opening therefrom, one into each section. The airfrom each section is then fed into the duct for exhaust.

While I have shown and described two particular forms of apparatus forcarrying out my method, it is apparent that many changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A cooling apparatus comprising an evaporating chamber, air conduitspartly covered with porous material extending through the evaporationchamber, a liquid containing compartment within the evaporating chamberadapted to feed liquid to the covered portion of said conduits, a

cup member4 formed around the ends of a portion of said air conduits toturn the down flowing airl upwardly through the evaporating chamber, anda dehydrator mounted in the cup member to reduce the dew point of theupwardly flowing air. l

2. A cooling device comprising a series of evaporation chambers, airpassages through the evaporation chambers covered with moisture ladenmaterial, an air vent duct over the ends of a portion of the airpassages and extending to one side of the evaporation chambers from thebottom of the last evaporation chamber to the bottom of the topevaporation chamber, ports formed in the air vent duct near thelowermost portion of each evaporation chamber to direct the air througheach evaporation chamber, and a dehydrator mounted in the air vent ductbefore the lower port formed in said4 air duct. GEORGE C. COVERSTON.

extending

